COLIES. 



105 



Black-necked Coly (Culiu.'s nigrkoUis). 



Differs from the preceding species in having a -white 

 mark at the base of the culmen : the forehead and throat 

 black and the feet pale yellowish. H;ib., Congo Region, 

 extending into the Niaiii-Niam comitry. (Sharpe.) 



I have found no aoeount of tlie wild life of typical 

 C. nigricolli<. but of its race, ('. nigrixcapalin, Mr. 

 G. L.' Bates, .^peaking of the breeding season.s of birds 

 in Southern Kamerun, observes {The Ibis, 1908, p. 

 564):— "Many nests of Colius nigrisccipalix with eggs 

 or young were found, be.^ides the birds killed, of which 

 the' breeding organs were examined. The gi-eater 

 number of the nests with eggs, and also of the breeding 

 birds, were obtained in the two rainy seasons ; and the 

 greatest number of all in tlie rai'ndest time, October and 

 November. Yet not all were found at tJiose times: 

 breeding -bii'ds were killed in December and in 

 February, and a nestling was found in August — all dry 

 months." 



In 1882 iliss Hagenbeck sent a specimen of this 

 species to the late Dr. Russ for identification, and in 

 1887 an example reached the London Zoological 

 Garden.*. 



White-e.vred Colv (Colius leucotis). 



Differs from C. siriatuf: in its ashy-white ear-coverts 

 and hind cheek.s ; the back of neck and mantle broadly 

 barred with du.sky brown; upper mandible black, with 

 'bluish white culmen ; lower mandible fleshy whitish, 

 blackish at base ; feet bright vermilion with the soles 

 tinged with grey ; irides pearl-white ; naked orbital 

 region bluish. Female not differentiated. Hab., 

 "Abyssinia and Bogo.^i-land. south to Shoa." (Sharpe.) 



Von Heuglin (" Ornithologie Noi-d-Ost Africas," 

 Vol. I., p. 711) says; — " As concerns its manner of life, 

 it herein resembles much the Senegal Mouse-bii-d, but 

 confines itself even more than the latter to the densest 

 scrub of thorn-trees and vines, and to the forest region, 

 than to large trees and human settlements. Its vertical 

 distribution lies between 1.000 and 11,000 feet above 

 sea-level. The closely crowded families rove from bush 

 to bush, especially along the banks of torrents and 

 waterfalls, and wherever by any possibility in matted 

 thickets, where the birds have no need to wander far. 

 Also they are fond of frequenting old brickwork and 

 rubbish heaps, where their favourite food, the Srhehti- 

 plant (Phitolacca habessinica, the Amburan Endol], 

 grows : at other times these creatures feed upon fruits ■ 

 of Leguminosffi, Capparis, Zizyphxts, Cordia ; we also 

 saw them upon sycamore, cucurbitacefe and cissus- 

 berries. Tlieir plumage is very rough and dry, so that 

 during showers it absorbs much water and renders the 

 birds incapable of flight. At the time when figs are 

 ripe the face and throat are often quite covered with 

 the clogged juice of these fruits." 



Dr. S. L. Hinde [The Ibis, 1898, p. 583) says that 

 this species is " common in flocks all over the country 

 from Mombasa to Kikuyu, except in the middle of the 



Mr. Alfred E. Pease says {The Ibis, 1901, p. 670) : — 

 " The White-eared Coly was very common and invari- 

 ably to be seen in large companies of individuals flying 



_ one after another from bush to bush, the last leaving 

 with apparent reluctance." This was in Southern 



-jAbyssinia. 



Mr. A. L. Butler {The. Ibis. 1905, p. 356) observes : — 

 " Widely distributed. I have shot it on the Setit River, 

 on the Bahr-el-fJhazal. and at intermediate points on 

 the Blue and White Xiles. I do not remember to have 



seen it frequenting gardens and date-palm groves like 

 the blue-naped species." 



Four examples of this bird reached the Berlin Zoo- 

 logical Gardens in 1895, and the keeper, Meusel, sent 

 Dr. Russ some interesting notes respecting their 

 behaviour in captivity ; those who wisli to read them 

 .should refer to Vol. II. of his " Fremdliindischen Stuben. 

 vcigel." pp. 632, 633. 



Red-cheeked Coly (Colius eri/lhroiiieloii). 



Above olivaceous grey, washed with buff on back and 

 rump ; wings rather greener ; tail green with dusky 

 inner webs and black shafts ; crest of head slightly 

 huffish, forehead reddish buff : ear-coverts and cheeks 

 green, the latter huffish in front ; throat and under 

 surface sandy buff, sides of body olivaceous grey ; flanks 

 and under tail-coverts green ; under wing-coverts red- 

 dish buff, the quill-lining chestnut ; bill black at tip, 

 crimson at base ; feet rose-red ; irides pale grey ; orbital 

 naked skin crimson. Female smaller, with the colour- 

 ing slightly paler and the beak smaller. Hab., South 

 Africa, to Angola on the west, and the Zambesi and 

 JI()z:imbique on the east. (Sharpe.) 



.Messr.s. SJtark and Sclater (" Birds of South Africa." 

 y^l. III., p. 100) remark that ''the Red-faced Monse- 

 b'rd does noit differ from the ether MouseJbirds in 

 ha,bits. It is gregarious in flocks olf frem six to twelve 

 indS-iduals ; it feeds on berries and fruits ; its fldglht 

 is rapid, straiglhit, and short, and it cilimlbs and craiwJs 

 about amid thick ibush ; its cry is Sihrill, and eomeiwhiat 

 resemibles its naitive Zulu name, ajcoording to the Wood- 

 wards. The latiter authore also describe a neist feund 

 in the foiik of a thorn tree near the UmihJatusi River, in 

 Zululiand. It was oompased of wild eoltton kx seed, an 

 inch thick, on a platform of thorny twigs. The eggs, 

 three in nurailber, w^ere white, freckled and streaked with 

 red. 



" Holub found that this bird did well in captivity in a 

 large oaige along 'with other toirds, and fed best on 

 ora-nges." 



iMr. B. Alexander {The Ihis, 19C0. pp. 105, 106) says : 

 " By nO' means common, and first observed on Novem- 

 ber 10 near Chucowa. In habits they resernble C. 

 siricitus, travelling about in small parties, and keeping 

 chiefly to the thickest ;portiO'ns of well -leaved trees, 

 awav from the boat, which they seem to feel very 

 much, hecominig .active only in the early morning and 

 evening. The cry, generally uttered on the wing and 

 when in flock, is a series of notes raipidly repea.ted, and 

 in so'und far-reaehing and melkiw." "This bird has a 

 strong and straight flight, and it seldom, if ever, 

 alights on the ground." 



Mr, R. H. Joy (The Ills, 1901, p. 24), speaking of 

 the Cnckoo, Coccystes serratus. clbserves : "In Decem- 

 ber, 1897, I saw one of these birds leave the nest of a 

 CV.y {Colius eri/lhromelo?!). The nest contained three 

 eggs of the host (iwhite, with a few pink scratches), 

 together with one egg of the Cuckoo (pure white)." 



Messrs. Seimund and Grant (T/ie Ihis. 1904. p. 27) 

 say that an old male which they obtained had the sc€t 

 parts coloured as follloiws: — "Iris yello-w : ibare skin 

 i-ound the eye and lores carmine ; base of bill and feet 

 crimson : tip of both mamdiihles Iblnok." A voung male 

 had the "iris 'hazel,' the bare skin round the eye and 

 lores ye'-law, with a slight tinge of red ; gape yeillow ; 

 ibase of Ibill greenish, the tip ibluiiah slat€-<;oloured ; feet 

 dull crimson. 



'• This we called the Mountain Ooly, as it keipt closely 

 to the kopjes, occasionally visiting the orchards to feed 

 on figs," 



The London Zoological Society acquired two speci- 



